A study shows that a promising drug called Dostarlimab may have potential to be an effective cancer treatment.
This experiment with cancer patients had an amazing effect. According to a report, the experimentation caused these patients to be cancer free. “Experimental drug trial removes cancer entirely in a group of 18 people”.
Dostarlimab is a drug that can be used for six months for people with rectal cancer. The evidence shows that, when administered, the tumors would disappear.
First Successful Cancer Drug Trial In History Reported
Researchers have huge expectations for the practical applications of this new cancer detection treatment.
The New England Journal of Medicine recently published a study that revealed how effective dostarlimab is in treating cancers. The research was based on determining whether the drug acted effectively when coupled with surgery and chemoradiotherapy.
There are total 32 authors joined the research paper which was supported by Simon and Eve Colin Foundation, GlaxoSmithKline, Fight Against Cancer, Swim Across America, and the National Institutes of Health of National Cancer Institutions.
Researchers found that 6 months to 25 months after diagnosis, the participants in the study did not have any adverse side effects from chemoradiotherapy or surgery, and there were no signs of progression or recurrence of the disease present during this time.
The research paper, which was published in the “Journal of Clinical Oncology”, found that 100% of the participants had a clinical complete response, with no evidence of tumor on any follow-up evaluations. A total of 12 patients have completed treatment with dostarlimab and have undergone at least 6 months of follow-up.
How does dostarlimab work?
For those fighting cancer, immunotherapy is the way to go. As Dr Cercek explains, when people are given this new drug, it helps to ramp up the immune system and eliminate cancer cells.
None of the patients in this study had any severe side effects. In general, 3-5% of patients administered with dostarlimab reported side effects.
Incidence rate of rectal cancer in India ranges between 3.9-4.4 per 1,00,000
As per a report by the Indian Council of Medical Research, colon cancer ranks 8th and rectal cancer ranks 9th among men. In India, for both types of cancers, the annual incidence rates in men are 4.4 and 4.1 per 100000 respectively. The annual incidence rate for colon cancer in women is 3.9 per 100000.
An older man is at a higher risk of developing this condition due to their lifestyle choices, including: diabetes mellitus associated with insulin resistance, ulcerative colitis, consumption of fresh red meat and processed meat, obesity; cigarette smoking; decreased physical activity; human immunodeficiency virus infection; decreased dietary fibre and fruit intake and presence of coronary heart disease.
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